What He Would Have Wanted
by ElizabethSciuto
Summary: When a tragedy changes the course of their family, things go much differently than planned.


"YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE! JUST LIKE DAD!" Kacey Ivy Mcgee yelled at her mom before slamming the front door to the apartment.

Abby leaned back against the wall and slowly let her head hit the wall. She took in a deep breath and when she let it out the tears followed close behind.

The last three years had been trying for the Mcgee's. It all began with a simple _"Grab your gear!"…_

_"What's up boss?" Tony questioned. They already had a case and there was a pretty heavy workload as it was. _

_"Petty Officer Edmonds was just found dead in a Georgetown mall parking lot." Gibbs said impatiently. _

_Tim watched with unease as he watched his co-workers get out of their seats and grab the navy blue backpacks from behind their desks. _

_"Something wrong Mcgee?" Gibbs asked, his patience growing thin. _

_Tim shook his head, hoping it would shake off the feeling he had, had all morning. "No boss." He said before quickly getting up and grabbing his own backpack. _

_Gibbs eyed the young agent. He could tell that something seemed wrong with him, but his gut wasn't telling him anything. 'It's going to have to wait for later.' Gibbs thought to himself as he joined his team in the elevator. _

_Forty minutes later Team Gibbs arrived at the crime scene. "DiNozzo, get the photos; David, you're on interviews; Mcgee, bag and tag." Gibbs quickly assigned his team. _

_"Yes boss." They all replied. _

_Tim climbed into the MCRT van and grabbed several evidence bags and pairs of gloves before heading over to the body. He scanned the body for signs of a bullet hole- nothing. He looked around before speaking up. "Boss… there's nothing but a body here…" He said looking around carefully. _

_"Well how'd he die?" Gibbs asked curtly. _

_"I believe that is my area of expertise." Ducky said as he climbed gingerly out of his van. "Are you done with the pictures Anthony?" _

_"Yeah… not much to see…" Tony said, agreeing with Mcgee. _

_Ducky carefully inserted the liver probe into the body. "Jethro… this victim couldn't have been killed more than two hours ago." Ducky said. _

_"Mcgee, DiNozzo!" Gibbs called over his agents. "Sweep the area for anyone that's avoiding questioning." He instructed. _

_"Yes boss." Tony said but Tim remained frozen in position. _

_"Is something wrong Mcgee?" Gibbs asked, sensing once again something wasn't quite right with his agent._

_"I just… I've got a gut feeling this isn't going to end well." Tim said uneasily. _

_Gibbs sighed. "Can your gut feeling wait twenty minutes?" _

_Tim nodded before pulling his SIG and following Tony into the west entrance of the mall. _

_Tony nodded as they pushed the doors open to the seemingly empty building. _

_As they approached the first store Tim's gut started churning so fast he thought he was going to throw up then and there, but something kept him going as he quietly followed Tony into the coffee shop. _

"_Clear." Tony said hesitantly before looking at Tim for his confirmation. _

_Tim opened his mouth and began to speak but his words were interrupted by a *bang* and the sound of a bullet zipping past. _

_"MCGEE!" Tony choked as he watched his friend, no his brother, fall to the ground. He quickly turned to where he thought the bullet had come from and fired three shots before he heard a grunt of pain and he saw the killers body fall limply to the ground behind the counter. _

_Quickly he rushed over to Tim whose blood was quickly spilling out onto the floor, blending in with the dark tile of the coffee shop. _

_"Mcgee stay with me…" He said firmly as he pressed both his hands to his chest in an attempt to stop the blood. _

_Tim winced in pain. "Tony let go…" Tim tried. _

_"NO!" He replied firmly. "I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GO!"_

_"Tell Abby…" Tim tried to get out through his shortening breaths. "Tell her… I love her."_

_"Tell her yourself!" Tony demanded. As he quickly pulled one hand off Tim's chest in order to get out his phone. _

_He pressed speed dial one and waited for the call to go through. _

_"What do you want DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, sounding annoyed. _

_"Tim's bleeding out." He said quickly, but didn't continue when he heard Gibbs' footsteps approaching._

_"What happened?" He demanded as he added his pressure on top of Tony's hands. _

_Tony found himself unable to speak through the tears now flooding his cheeks._

_Ducky arrived quickly wondering where Gibbs had rushed off to. When he saw Tim's pale body he froze. He could feel the blood draining from his own face as he took in the sight of the young man he had grown quite fond of over the years, bleeding to his death on the ground._

_"Jethro…" Ducky said gently as he placed a hand on his shoulder. _

_"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! DO SOMETHING!" Gibbs demanded. _

_"Jethro." Ducky tried, firmer this time._

_"HE'S GOING TO BE FINE… HE HAS TO BE FINE!" Gibbs protested._

_"Jethro!" Ducky shouted. _

_"WHAT?"_

_"It's not your fault." He said knowing exactly what his friend was thinking. _

_"He knew… Ducky he knew. His gut feeling… I put him off because I was too focused on my job… This is my fault." Gibbs reasoned. "What are Abby and Kacey going to say Duck? I lost him. I'm supposed to protect him!"_

_"Jethro you couldn't have done anything!" Ducky said firmly. "Abby will understand. She knows it's a risk with this line of work."_

_"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" Gibbs protested. _

_"She told me Jethro." Ducky said calmer this time, out of respect. "It's one of her biggest fears. She knows how real of a possibility this is and I know she'll be able to handle this. It will be hard for her, but she'll understand."_

_Gibbs pulled away from his now limp agent and quickly stood up. He went over to the counter and grabbed several napkins to wipe off his hands._

_"Where are you going Jethro?" Ducky asked him as he headed out the door. _

_"NCIS." He replied simply. Ducky had no doubt of what he was going to do. _

_Thirty minutes later Gibbs slowly entered Abby's lab. He had taken the stairs, not wanting to make his presence known quite yet. _

_Abby was standing typing away at her computer, tapping her foot rapidly to her music. The ever-present smile on her face was enough to make Gibbs want to turn and run away. Put this off until later, but he knew he couldn't._

_Gibbs quietly grabbed the remote to Abby's speakers of the counter by the door and pressed the power button, sending the lab into total silence minus Abby' startled gasp as she turned around._

_"Gibbs what the…" She started before she saw all the blood. "Who?" Abby asked knowing exactly why he was here. _

_Gibbs shook his head telling her exactly what she wanted to know. "NO!" She let out a sob. _

_Gibbs was quickly pulling her into his arms. "Abs… I'm so, so sorry…"_

Abby just didn't know what she was doing anymore. Kacey, their now twelve year old daughter didn't want anything to do with her dad anymore. She felt abandoned and she made it known.

After several moments of staring out the window into the crisp January afternoon she saw the snowflakes start to fall. Abby sighed before collecting her black pea coat from the hall closet and a red down blanket from the couch and following her daughter's path out of the apartment.

She found her where she always was, sitting along the large stone steps in front of their apartment building. Abby bit her lip before sitting down next to her daughter and pulling her into her arms.

"He left us." Kacey said simply as she wrapped the blanket around herself. "He promised me he wouldn't ever leave us."

Abby could feel her daughters frozen tears falling into her lap. "Oh Kace." She said softly as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "You can't blame him for what happened."

"He was stupid enough to get shot out there!" Kacey argued. "He should have known better! Why couldn't it have been Tony?" She asked angrily.

"Ouch." She heard a male voice join the conversation.

Abby smiled up at Tony. "She doesn't mean it Tony. Do you Kace?"

Kacey looked up at her 'uncle'. "No." She admitted.

Tony rightfully took his place on the other side of Kacey. "It's hard Kace. But complaining about it isn't going to make anything any better." He said softly.

"I know that… I just… He's supposed to be here today!" Kacey exclaimed, feeling frustrated. "He promised me that the day I turned twelve he'd take me to New York to see the night skyline in person."

Tony looked at the girl with sympathy, but he couldn't resist the urge to make her laugh. "He still owes me twenty bucks for lunch."

Tony winced as he felt an elbow enter his ribs. "I deserved that." He coughed.

Abby had been zoned out for awhile, but suddenly she stood up. "Come on." She said firmly as she pulled her daughter off the steps.

"Where are we going?" Kacey questioned as she followed her mom's tracks through the snow into the car.

"You'll see." Abby said ushering Tony to get in the front seat.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tony asked hesitantly as they started driving.

"It's what Tim would have wanted."

* * *

><p>It was around 8 o'clock that night when Abby pulled to the side of the road.<p>

"Where are we?" Kacey asked, the change in motion from the parking waking her up.

"Come on." Abby said with a smile as she climbed out of the car.

Kacey quickly got out of the car and took her mom's awaiting hand. Abby walked them over to the side of the bridge they had parked on and Kacey gasped at what she saw.

"It's…" She choked.

Abby simply nodded.

"It's beautiful." Kacey stated before pressing herself into her mother's arms.

"It's what Tim would have wanted." Tony agreed as he took in the lights.

Kacey looked toward the city, her cheeks red from the bitter cold. She muttered four words, so quiet no one else heard them.

_"I love you daddy."_

_**Author's Note: I really hope you enjoyed this! It's a much different thing than I usually write, but I got the idea so I went for it! This is my first one shot—Let me know what you think! REVIEWS ARE LOVE!**_


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